Technology assessment of solar-energy systems: an analysis of direct and indirect cost, air-pollutant emissions, employment, and input-energy requirements of solar-energy options

As part of the Technology Assessment of Solar Energy (TASE) program, solar technologies previously characterized by various national laboratories in terms of size, fuel requirements, pollutant output, and material and labor requirements were embedded, along with conventional technologies, into competing alternative energy systems scaled to produce 10/sup 12/ Btu of useful output energy. The resulting systems were evaluated on the basis of total annualized cost, direct and indirect air pollutant emissions, employment, and input energy requirements. The impacts over the 20-year period from 1980 to 2000 from the deployment, by 2000, of an additional 0.1 Quad per year of useful energy from selected systems were calculated to illustrate the impacts of the rapid deployment of specific solar technologies.